Qatar Energy set the term price for March al-Shaheen crude prices at a premium of $1.37 a barrel above Dubai quotes, the lowest since June 2021, trading sources said on Thursday.

This was down from a premium of about $1.50 a barrel for February-loading cargoes.

The term price was decided after the sale of two cargoes of March-loading al-Shaheen crude via tenders which closed this week.

TotalEnergies TTE and Vitol have likely bought the cargoes due to load on March 1 to 2 and March 26 to 27, the sources said.

The cut to al-Shaheen prices follows the decline of spot premiums for Middle Eastern crude this month, with a narrower spread between Brent and Dubai-linked grades (DUB-EFS-1M) and cheaper freight rates encouraging Asian buyers to seek to arbitrage cargoes. (CRU/M)

Meanwhile, the increasing flow of Russian crude into Asia is adding to concerns about oversupply and placing pressure on regional oil prices.
Source: Reuters